June 15, 2009
Chritmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis
YouTube - Tom Waits - Chritmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis.
June 14, 2009
Quick Sketch
I've been working on a handful of drawings but this sketch represents the opposite end of the spectrum from them. I feel like I'm slowly honing in on what best describes what I'm thinking.
It's easy to feel like I'm on to something when what I'm working on starts to take some sort of recognizable state. But I keep having to ask myself what is it that I recognize. I have to be careful to make sure that it's what I'm seeing in my own head and not some technique I've responded to in someone else's work.
I left the studio Friday with a feeling of exuberance, only to come in Saturday feeling like I was still way off the mark. I was able to turn that around towards the end of the night by gaining some clarity through objectively looking at what I had done (which came out very heavy-handedly).
June 12, 2009
Children of the Revolution @ Federal Art Project
C'mon, with art like this, who needs art?
"With Children of The Revolution I started thinking about this idea of education and teaching and "passing the torch." I went to UCLA and studied with Chris Burden, Paul McCarthy, Charlie Ray and Roger Herman. I feel that they've all been very influential on my practice. I always think about that "brotherhood" and the responsibility of sharing the information. Like the SKULL AND BONES Society at Yale, that secret brotherhood that a lot of big time politicians have been a members of, I sort of think about this brotherhood as being akin to that. A secret society where we share and pass on information that manifests itself in our works but that the general public is not really privy too."
tryharder: Children of the Revolution @ Federal Art Project.
June 7, 2009
State of the Studio
Layering an old saw handle with salt.
I'm dipping and coating things. Salt builds up a nice surface. On the right are a few small samples using different glues, epoxy, spray adhesive and Elmer's. The Elmer's won out. It stays white. I want the coats to eventually change the form to where it's unrecognizable. I've also thought about layering color into the coats.
I went to‚ Amoeba‚ Records for the first time on Friday. Huge place. Whenever I go to a new record store for the first time I get insecure because I don't know where to find anything. I feel like a little kid during his first day at a new school.
The place is great. They have everything. Tons of used CD's as well. I picked up a bunch of Frank Black and two performance CDs by Miranda July. I'm not sure when I'll feel comfortable downloading music instead of buying on CD. Still doesn't feel right.
June 2, 2009
Tonight
Not much to say except that I'm taking a slower, more layered approach to these drawings. Trying to build up the image over a longer period of time. I also painted over the last one. I have a clearer idea (although, it's still pretty fuzzy) for them.
I'm trying to post more. I don't always have much to write (or show), so I think I'm going to borrow a theme from Dennis Hollingsworth and simply post state-of-the-studio images here and there. He pieces his together way cooler though.
May 30, 2009
Great Scott!
E and I just went to dinner at Swinger's and on the way there we saw a replica "Back to the Future" DeLorean. Of course I immediately pulled over and went to check it out. I was able to sit in it as it was on display at theater that was showing the trilogy. Boy, that sucker is small. I could barely get my legs in. But I was so damned excited. For some reason that movie still has a big effect on me.
May 26, 2009
David Byrne Journal: 05.17.09: Art is good for you?
Another excellent post over at David Byrne's blog where he ruminates on the effect of viewing art, making art and personal anecdotes of growing up in Baltimore. His argument seems to fizzle as he gets to his own experience, though it's still worth reading.
However, one thing led to another and connections, sometimes bizarre, were made. I painted a picture in high school of a phalanx of identical businessmen (who may have resembled my dad a bit), in a style reminiscent of George Tooker (I realize now) – standing against a wall of brightly colored, abstract empty picture frames and on a floor decorated with Northwest Indian tribal images, with hook-beaked creatures and densely packed biomorphic forms. It could have been a psychedelic record cover, and it referenced, or maybe simply imitated, everything visually available to me in suburban Baltimore that seemed wild and cool.
May 22, 2009
Last Night's Drawing
Untitled | gesso, charcoal, ink on paper | forgot the dimensions
After growing a bit frustrated with the wall prosthetic I talked about in the last post, I decided to do more drawing to flush out some ideas that have built up. I tend to try to think my way through problems instead of working through them. This is usually because I can't get to the studio. While thinking is a necessity, there is no substitute for working (in my case, at least).
Last night I finished the above drawing, started months ago. Actually, I simply put something down on paper months ago and then, last night, covered it up with what you see above. They do relate though, in that I wasn't starting from a blank piece of paper and the resulting drawing is a reaction, in part, to what I was trying to initially make, which was very different.
Working this way feels right (drawing with wet media). The process is immediate, which is something I need after long neglecting working in the studio. It also has remnants of the instant gratification I used to get while working in clay.
May 19, 2009
First Coat
The first coat of white to see the inconsistencies
It's moving along. The inconsistency of the first coat of white is actually pretty nice. Normally I would make sure the surface is fully opaque and consistent, but the variable quality of the color gives a bit more depth.
But then again, as I'm writing this, I realize it could also have the unwanted relation to the Joker's makeup in Batman.
Well, shit.
I hate when that happens. I really wish I hadn't of thought of that. I suppose it's a good thing. I don't want my work to be taken as fan art.
Anyway, We'll see where it goes.
May 2, 2009
Elizabeth's Lists
I've trained Elizabeth well:
Dear Ryan Fitzer,
If it would please you kind sir, please make the following purchases at the local merchant of your convenience:
coffee kitty doodles method dish soap (lavender, if there) horizon 1/2 and 1/2 jus d'orange soy milk people morning doodles and any other items you may find appropriate to bring into our residence.
That is all,
love.
e